October 2015

FTC and Seven International Partners Launch New Initiative to Boost Cooperation In Protecting Consumer Privacy

The Federal Trade Commission and enforcement agencies from seven other countries launched a new information-sharing system that will enable them to better coordinate international efforts in protecting consumer privacy. On Oct 25, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez joined representatives from several agencies, which are members of the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN), in signing a Memorandum of Understanding among users of the new system, called GPEN Alert. The signing took place at the 37th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Amsterdam. GPEN Alert is a multilateral system that will enhance coordination by enabling participants to confidentially share information about investigations. The GPEN Alert technology is based on the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network, a system that enables member US law enforcement agencies to access complaints that consumers provide to the FTC and other data contributors. The seven international partners joining the FTC as initial participants in GPEN Alert are:

Australia: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Canada: Office of the Privacy Commissioner
Ireland: Office of the Data Protection Commissioner
Netherlands: Data Protection Authority (“College Bescherming Persoonsgegevens”)
New Zealand: Office of the Privacy Commissioner
Norway: Data Protection Authority (“Datatilsynet”)
United Kingdom: Information Commissioner’s Office

What is 5G and why should lawmakers care?

[Commentary] A decision by the Federal Communications Commission to open large swaths of high-frequency radio spectrum for use in next generation wireless networks marks a turning point in the mobile revolution. A new standard, known as 5G, is coming soon. In addition to blazing fast speeds for tomorrow’s mobile devices, 5G networks will be the platform for new innovations, including the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, ultra high-definition video, remote health care, and augmented reality. Along with many disruptors yet to be imagined. On the networking side, 5G differs from earlier standards by the use of multiple radio access technologies depending on the device and application. These include extremely high or “millimeter wave” frequencies above 24 GHz, considered until recently to be unusable for mobile applications.

Permissionless innovation in 5G design may also run afoul of overbroad “net neutrality” regulations adopted by the FCC earlier in 2015. Much of the new 5G architecture at both the core and the edges of the network will prioritize traffic that demands low latency, for example, and maintain persistent content throughout multiple virtual networks in what might be seen by non-engineers as faster and slower “lanes” of data traffic. While other economies rely heavily on government funding, innovation in the United States follows a decidedly entrepreneurial model. So getting policies right, and from the start, will be crucial to unlocking private investment for 5G technologies, which could cost almost $2 trillion just for network upgrades.

[Larry Downes is a project director at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy]

The FCC’s Open Internet order on the line as the Supreme Court challenges agency deference

[Commentary] A quiet revolution may be brewing in administrative law. For over thirty years, the Chevron doctrine has dominated the legal landscape, requiring courts to give significant deference to federal agency interpretations of the statutes that those agencies administer. But recent Supreme Court decisions, and in particular two cases on the current court’s docket, may signal that the justices are increasingly uncomfortable with the amount of power this doctrine has vested in unelected agency officials – and their decisions may significantly dampen the Federal Communications Commission’s decade-long attempt to construct a law of the Internet.

The Internet is unquestionably today’s dominant telecommunications network. But to regulate it, the FCC needs a statute from Congress delineating the purposes and scope of such regulation. The FCC’s attempts to manufacture jurisdiction in Congressional silence ring hollow, and illustrate why the Justices seem to be increasingly reluctant to embrace such a broad reading of Chevron.

[Daniel Lyons is an associate professor at Boston College Law School]

Communications and Technology Subcommittee
House Commerce Committee
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
10:00am

The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will review the economic impacts of the FCC’s decision to implement heavy-handed utility-style regulation of the Internet. Members will examine the effect of the commission’s rule on investment and deployment of broadband networks and what that means for American consumers, jobs, and innovation.

Background Memo

Witnesses:

Frank Louthan
Managing Director- Equity Research
Raymond James Financial

Michael Mandel
Chief Economic Strategist
Progressive Policy Institute

Robert Shapiro
Co-Founder and Chairman
Sonecon LLC

Nicholas Economides
Professor of Economics
New York University Stern School of Business



October 26, 2015 (Universal Broadband Adoption)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2015

The FCC Makes Some Moves: Robbie's Round-Up


INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Universal Broadband Adoption: Now the Hard Work Begins - analysis
   Level 3 says Charter's settlement-free peering policy raises a number of concerns
   ISPs, FCC Outline Oral Argument Proposal to Court

TELECOM
   Prison phone companies fight for right to charge inmates $14 a minute
   FCC Makes Telephone Calls for Inmates Cheaper - NYTimes editorial

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Apple sued for misleading consumers about Wi-Fi Assist data charges [links to Revere Digital]
   Verizon follows AT&T, asks FCC to let it enable Wi-Fi calling [links to Verge, The]

TELEVISION/RADIO
   There's Gold In Them Thar TV Channels, But... - editorial
   Parents Television Council: Muppets Too Adult for Kids [links to Broadcasting&Cable]

CONTENT
   Pandora and the Music Labels Finally Agree On Something: They’re All Mad At Spotify and YouTube [links to Revere Digital]

PRIVACY
   Verizon's AOL deal brings new privacy worries [links to USAToday]

SECURITY
   After OPM hack, spy agencies warn staffers to keep quiet on social media [links to Hill, The]
   To Be Successful, Hackers Need Means, Motive and Opportunity [links to nextgov]
   The government tries to recruit hackers on their own turf [links to Washington Post]

OVERSIGHT
   House Commerce Committee Leaders Request Audit of FCC’s Enforcement Bureau - press release

LOBBYING
   Twitter lobbying dollars shoot up but are eclipsed by other Internet giants [links to Benton summary]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Russian Ships Near Data Cables Are Too Close for US Comfort
   Alan Charles Raul op-ed: Worries about privacy protections have roiled international commerce. The EU needs reassuring. [links to Wall Street Journal]
   European Union to Pursue Google Parent Alphabet on Multiple Fronts, Vestager Says [links to Wall Street Journal]
   Facebook Strives to Bring Cheap Wi-Fi to Rural India

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INTERNET/BROADBAND

UNIVERSAL BROADBAND ADOPTION
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
[Commentary] Writing in the Washington Post on October 22, Brian Fung relayed the tough reality that policymakers and the people and organizations working on broadband adoption have come to realize: “to get the last of the United States’ late adopters online will take more than infrastructure. It’ll require deep investment in digital education and painstaking one-on-one work that ultimately convinces offline Americans that the Internet is worth their time.” Although everyone in the U.S. may now have access to the Internet – be it over a fiber or phone line, a cell phone or even a satellite wireless network – not everyone has decided to subscribe to broadband service at home. Just over a year ago, the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released Exploring the Digital Nation which found that broadband adoption at home in the U.S. had increased to 72 percent of households in 2012 from 69 percent in 2011. But, despite the progress, the report also identified persistent gaps in home Internet use. In 2012, a significant portion -- 28 percent -- of American households did not use broadband at home.
https://www.benton.org/blog/universal-broadband-adoption-now-hard-work-b...
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LEVEL 3 SAYS CHARTER'S SETTLEMENT-FREE PEERING POLICY RAISES A NUMBER OF CONCERNS
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Sean Buckley]
Level 3 said that Charter Communications' peering proposal lacks a number of key details that could affect future relationships. In an FCC filing, Level 3 noted while it does not have an established peering interconnection agreement with Charter, the service provider is concerned that the cable company's agreement needs to address a number of questions and make certain modifications. "The Level 3 representatives noted that today, Level 3 and Charter do not peer to exchange Internet traffic," Level 3 said in an FCC filing. "But, the Level 3 representatives observed, Charter's announced policy is one that leaves important questions unanswered and contains provisions that should be modified if the policy is to form the basis for peering relationships." Level 3 outlined six issues it said should be resolved or modified by Charter: duration, traffic exchange scope, trial period, new interconnection locations, interconnection suspension and nondiscrimination.
benton.org/headlines/level-3-says-charters-settlement-free-peering-policy-raises-number-concerns | Fierce
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ORAL ARGUMENT PROPOSAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: ]
Interested parties, including Internet service providers and the Federal Communications Commission, filed proposals with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on the logistics of a hearing on the FCC’s Open Internet rules. They asked for 30 minutes per side for the first part of the argument, 20 per for the second, and 10 per for the third. The first session would deal with the legality of reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications service and related issues. The second portion would focus on ISP claims about the lawfulness of applying Title II to mobile broadband. The third session would go to challenges that the rules violate the First Amendment, and could include addressing their challenge to reliance on Sec. 706 authority.
benton.org/headlines/isps-fcc-outline-oral-argument-proposal-court | Broadcasting&Cable
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TELECOM

PRISON PHONE COMPANIES FIGHT FOR RIGHT TO CHARGE INMATES $14 A MINUTE
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
The Federal Communications Commission is about to face another lawsuit, this time over a vote to cap the prices prisoners pay for phone calls. Inmate calling companies Global Tel*Link (GTL) and Securus Technologies, vowed to take the FCC to court over the decision. The FCC's decision "create[s] significant financial instability in the industry and will pose a threat to service at many of the nation’s smaller jails," GTL said. "Consequently, GTL is left with no choice but to seek judicial review of the FCC’s order." GTL CEO Brian Oliver claimed that the FCC has "hurt inmates and their families -- the very people they set out to help. While they might see lower per-minute rates, they could be left with either the lowest quality of phone service or no phone service at all." Securus said the FCC's decision "will cause smaller and medium-sized prisons and jails to lose the ability for inmates to communicate with friends and family." The company said it will appeal the order and request a stay from the US Court of Appeals in Washington (DC). When asked if he's concerned about defending against an inmate calling lawsuit in addition to the others, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, "Oh golly, I think the rule at the FCC is make a decision, go to court. Everybody sues us about everything."
benton.org/headlines/prison-phone-companies-fight-right-charge-inmates-14-minute | Ars Technica
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FCC MAKES TELEPHONE CALLS FOR INMATES CHEAPER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Families that have been forced to choose between buying household essentials and sharing a phone call with a loved one behind bars have long pleaded with the federal government to end price-gouging by the companies that provide phone service for jail and prison inmates. The Federal Communications Commission took a preliminary step toward that end two years ago when it limited what those companies could charge for interstate telephone calls. On Oct 22, the commission went one step further when it set limits on what the companies can charge on all inmate calls. There’s one big task left: to apply similar rules to newer technologies — like email, voice mail and person-to-person video — which are subject to the same kinds of abuses found in the telephone industry.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-makes-telephone-calls-inmates-cheaper | New York Times
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TELEVISION/RADIO

THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THAR TV CHANNELS, BUT...
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] To further entice broadcasters, the Federal Communications Commission released the "final" opening bids it will make for TV stations' spectrum in a reverse auction in spring 2016. The numbers are enticing -- the opening bids add up to $341.7 billion. They range from $900 million for WCBS New York to $1.2 million for KXGN in tiny Glendive (MT), with an average of $155 million and a median of $125 million. The numbers are in line with the estimated opening bids the FCC released last February on a market-by-market basis. But these latest seem more real because they are on a station-by-station basis. At the most, apparently, the FCC needs only 400 or 500 stations, not 2,198. And the reverse auction with its "descending clock format" is designed to uncover which broadcasters in each market will accept the least amount to sell and vacate their UHF channels. When all is said and done, the FCC will spend only a fraction of the opening bid total (again $341.7 billion) to acquire the necessary spectrum. How big a fraction? The FCC's so-called Greenhill report last October estimated it would be $45 billion. And that's on the high side of what some who have taken a hard look at the auction mechanics say.
benton.org/headlines/theres-gold-them-thar-tv-channels | TVNewsCheck
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OVERSIGHT

HOUSE COMMERCE COMMITTEE LEADERS REQUEST AUDIT OF FCC'S ENFORCEMENT BUREAU
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Press release]
Leaders of the House Commerce Committee and its Communications Subcommittee asked the Government Accountability Office to complete a review of the management of the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau. Full Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), along with Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Vice Chairman Bob Latta (R-OH), are seeking the report in conjunction with the subcommittee’s ongoing oversight of the FCC. The leaders asked the GAO:
Has the FCC implemented performance measures and performance goals consistent with GAO’s 2008 recommendations? If not, how does the FCC measure the effectiveness of the enforcement program?
In the intervening seven years, would GAO recommend additional or revised recommendations to the FCC in effectively tracking the effectiveness of the FCC enforcement program?
Is the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau meeting its mission of protecting the consumer, ensuring public safety, and encouraging competition? What changes should be made to improve performance to ensure that consumers are being protected and FCC leadership is accountable?
The FCC has invested millions of dollars in IT improvements in the Enforcement Bureau and the Consumer & Government Affairs Bureau since 2007. How much has the FCC spent on these improvements? Have these improvements lead to an improved enforcement program at the FCC to the benefit of consumers and other stakeholders?
benton.org/headlines/house-commerce-committee-leaders-request-audit-fccs-enforcement-bureau | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | Letter by Reps Upton, Walden, and Latta
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

RUSSIA NEAR CABLES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Sanger, Eric Schmitt]
Russian submarines and spy ships are aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some American military and intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of tension or conflict. The issue goes beyond old worries during the Cold War that the Russians would tap into the cables — a task American intelligence agencies also mastered decades ago. The alarm today is deeper: The ultimate Russian hack on the United States could involve severing the fiber-optic cables at some of their hardest-to-access locations to halt the instant communications on which the West’s governments, economies and citizens have grown dependent.
benton.org/headlines/russian-ships-near-data-cables-are-too-close-us-comfort | New York Times
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BRINGING WI-FI TO RURAL INDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Vindu Goel]
Facebook’s little-known ambition in India is to build a network of cheap Wi-Fi access points that would help residents in remote villages log on to the Internet almost as easily as people do in the West. The dishes relay signals to and from a base station in the valley below, other mountain towers and, ultimately, Internet access points in about 40 villages. The wireless Internet service, called Express Wi-Fi, is not free. For 10 rupees, or about 15 cents, customers can buy one day’s access to 100 megabytes of data; $3 will buy 20 gigabytes of data, which can be used over the course of a month. Those prices are roughly one-third the cost of similar prepaid data plans from Airtel, the most reliable cellular operator in the mountains.
benton.org/headlines/facebook-strives-bring-cheap-wi-fi-rural-india | New York Times
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Universal Broadband Adoption: Now the Hard Work Begins

[Commentary] Writing in the Washington Post on October 22, Brian Fung relayed the tough reality that policymakers and the people and organizations working on broadband adoption have come to realize: “to get the last of the United States’ late adopters online will take more than infrastructure. It’ll require deep investment in digital education and painstaking one-on-one work that ultimately convinces offline Americans that the Internet is worth their time.” Although everyone in the U.S. may now have access to the Internet – be it over a fiber or phone line, a cell phone or even a satellite wireless network – not everyone has decided to subscribe to broadband service at home. Just over a year ago, the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released Exploring the Digital Nation which found that broadband adoption at home in the U.S. had increased to 72 percent of households in 2012 from 69 percent in 2011. But, despite the progress, the report also identified persistent gaps in home Internet use. In 2012, a significant portion -- 28 percent -- of American households did not use broadband at home.

FCC Makes Telephone Calls for Inmates Cheaper

[Commentary] Families that have been forced to choose between buying household essentials and sharing a phone call with a loved one behind bars have long pleaded with the federal government to end price-gouging by the companies that provide phone service for jail and prison inmates. The Federal Communications Commission took a preliminary step toward that end two years ago when it limited what those companies could charge for interstate telephone calls. On Oct 22, the commission went one step further when it set limits on what the companies can charge on all inmate calls. There’s one big task left: to apply similar rules to newer technologies — like email, voice mail and person-to-person video — which are subject to the same kinds of abuses found in the telephone industry.